Audio/Video Quality: Control 2 was presented in 1.85: anamorphic widescreen color as shot by director Robby D. for his own company, Handheld Pictures, for distribution by Digital Playground. The visual elements of the movie were consciously designed to look as they did with a slightly rough look to support the thematic concept of the show. The flesh tones were accurate (though saturated), the composition of the shots well done, and all the lighting suited the ladies in their respective scenes. The DVD was mastering allowed for no compression artifacts to be observed and no video noise popped up, completing a very nice visual presentation that worked all around. The audio was presented in a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround with a minimalist leaning that seemed unique in most ways. Absent was the fancy, and typically lame, porn music many of Robby's peers rely on to mask various audio flaws. Also absent was a lot of talking in most of the scenes, relying on the visual elements alone to carry the weight (and heat) of the scenes. My impression of the talented director has long been that he favors the visual aspects of directing almost to the exclusion of the auditory experience, still his greatest weakness holding him back at this time (for all my kidding with him in recent months, anyone who actually reads my reviews will know that I hold his skills in the highest of regard; certainly higher than the majority of his peers in the business). In all though, the manner in which he put the visuals and audio together were a nice change from the over produced material he makes with "Celeste".

Body of Review: A couple of months ago, I described Control 1 like this: "Robby D. has long wanted to direct a series where he had complete freedom to do as he pleased rather than serve whatever master he was working for at a given time. If you look closely at his Action Sports Sex series back at Vivid, you'll notice a bit of anarchist in his work, and an attitude slipped in on a regular basis that went largely unnoticed by his bosses. As time went on, he was more open about how he did this but he always longed to make porn that he himself would find perfect for his needs rather than the generic, canned porn he was sick of renting at the local smut shop. In recent years, his bosses have given him more freedom to do as he liked but it was always within certain constraints and those who know the creative mind also know that constraints, however far away and reasonable, will gnaw at them like crazy." With this was born the series where Robby, under his own production company, Handheld Pictures, could literally write his own ticket as to what he made.

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Well, today's review of the sequel, Control 2, continues his journey at bringing fans a newer sort of gonzo experience (hopefully one that will be imitated all over the place as the industry tends to do). The claustrophobic scenes of some gals had any sense of control taken away from them is back as is the tease footage which, combined with the voyeuristic camera work, make for some excellent moments. I hope he continues to expand the theory that variety is the spice of life since we're probably all familiar with performers that were great with some sex acts but lame in others, allowing them to break free of a formula driven scheme as the mechanics of the porn industry have fallen into (there are gals that can suck the chrome off a trailer hitch but are lousy lays otherwise just as there are some that have advanced gag reflexes that prevent them from blowing anyone like they enjoy it as two examples-why saddle them with sex acts they can't properly handle?). That said, here's a breakdown of the action on the double disc set by cast and action:

Scene One: Austin Kinkaid, the busty brunette that looks much like a younger, firmer Sydnee Steele (now retired contract star from Wicked Pictures), was up first as she came to the door in a skintight red outfit that would cause car crashes and heads to turn anywhere outside of San Francisco (California) or Austin (Texas). The tease footage here was enough to get off on but thankfully, she went further, far further in fact, in a POV scene after Robby kept feeling her up. She claimed he was "bad" as she stripped off her clothes, only to put on another outfit with less material but just as appealing (if not more so) with lots of laces to undo. Fans of gals dressing, and this is a largely under appreciated fetish, will appreciate that she took her time, calling herself "Mommy" as part of the kink, leading to more tease and Robby silently pawing at her. She then leads him into a smaller room and onto a twin bed where an anonymous stunt cock took over in POV style (it wasn't Robby for two reasons; 1) the guy's hands no longer had freckles and 2) the guy's cock wasn't nearly as huge as Robby's horse leg is supposed to be). I'm not an expert on cocks but I'd bet it was Scott Nails given the shave of the pubes, small head and lengthy shaft as well as the shape of the belly button and lack of muscle mass on the legs. In any case, she toyed with the dick in her mouth and with some handjob action before impaling herself in reverse cowgirl style that looked fine on camera. She was an active and aggressive rider of cock in the multiple positions of vaginal sex they engaged in, ending with the standard rubbed out load to her face and upper torso. This was an excellent start to what would become a great fuck flick. Yum!

Scene Two: Jenaveve Jolie, one of the most attractive young Latinas in porn today, was up next in the kitchen in her skimpy undies as she baked cherry pies. There was never any doubt that as she teased the camera, she was in complete control of the scene (and Robby by default), bending over, talking about "having one in the oven", and playing with the cherry pie on the counter. Watching a woman sticking her finger in a cherry pie and licking it clean, describing it as being similar to a pussy, gave me some wood though her masturbation part of the tease was even better. Scott Nails came in and they started with some food fetish stuff, including licking whipped cream off her body parts in a slow, teasing manner. They gave each other great head and then the screwing began. She was another enthusiastic partner, bouncing up and down on him as though she were on fire. This different slightly from most of the vaginal boning of the first scene in how she seemed to be doing her best to get him off in record time. The couple lost all sense of their surroundings, forgetting about Robby, as they went at each other with lots of passion. It ended when she verbally coaxed him to jerk off into the cherry pie, which she scooped up to swallow down.

Scene Three: Sara Stone, an attractive gal with huge breasts and otherwise lean body, was up next as she showered herself clean. The lathering up part was intense although I wanted to see more of it. She then put on a purple fetish outfit (latex?) and dominated the mighty Evan Stone, who was blindfolded in a chair and dressed up in black. She wielded a riding crop but made little use of it initially as she rubbed her chest in his face and felt him up. His hands were cuffed behind his back and when she started giving him a lap dance, I'm sure he wanted to reach around and grab her. The camera angle then alternated between an overhead shot (that looked great by the way) and the strolling camera making circles around the duo. She then blew him soundly and he was given the freedom to titty fuck those massive mammaries as we'd all like to do. It wasn't the best titty fuck I've seen in recent weeks but it did last a good amount of time and was decent even if he did most of the work. He then rubbed out a load to her chest rather than fuck her, with her eating some of the semen from there. In all, it was a limited scene but the erotic elements were better than the usual formulaic fuck by a substantial margin.

Scene Four: Nautica Thorne, the hotty on the front DVD cover, had been allowed to tease the camera in between the scenes in a very limited fashion up until this point. There was enough material to perk me up and then a scene with another gal would start. Well, while this was still a tease only sequence, it was much longer this time and used to close out the first 98 minutes of the double disc set. The skimpy peach bathing suit was hot on her lean frame and she's welcome to swim in my pool any time she likes.

Scene Five: Holly Wellin, another gal with a lot of sex appeal (though too much make up), was up next as the first scene of the second disc. She was handcuffed and bound at the feet, lying on the floor, seemingly unconscious. As she awoke, she struggled with her bonds and tried to escape her predicament by crawling out of the room, down the hall and stairs, and hopping about. The sense of impending doom was heightened by the lack of music and soon enough, James Deen entered the house with some candy for her (as he caught her trying to get away). She sucked on the lengthy stick candy (multicolored like a lollipop) as though it was a dick, using her verbal skills to try and regain a measure of control from her captor. She blew him a little bit but it wasn't a major part of the scene, with him tapping her pussy as she tried to catch her breath. The vaginal turned to anal and she continued to verbally encourage him, jilling herself as he hammered away at her backside (with some ATM). She was given more freedom to ride him after awhile and she made the best of it by bouncing on his cock in her ass as she yelled out (in an over the top fashion). They did some limited vaginal after than and he ended it by jerking a load onto her face and candy as she called for his protein. The scene was a bit edgier than I'd expect of Digital Playground and some of the themes were considered outside of the safety zone (there's a reason you don't see many kidnapping scenes or bondage with actual sex) but interesting and strokable at the same time.

Scene Six: Courtney Cummz, one of the finest performers in the jizz biz, was up next as she put on pantyhose before grabbing a drink in the kitchen. I liked the way in which she ate the banana (a porno classic folks) and the tension built by Tommy Gunn walking after her was interesting, even if it could've been better with a little more explicit footage of when he caught up to her. He blindfolded her and handcuffed her, soon exploring her yielding body as he took off her shoes and placed her hose on his head (like a bank robber). She was very much into the relinquishing of control as evidenced by the manner in which she took every opportunity to provide him, and herself, with pleasure as she kissed him and slobbed his knob. It was necessarily a no-hands blowjob since she still sported the handcuffs, with lots of streamers emanating from his cock but she asked for release from the handcuffs in order to use her hands on him, a treat he couldn't ignore. Spitting on the dick and jerking him off as she sucked him off, using her eye contact and verbal skills; made it worthwhile for him though he was soon drilling her as though it had been a long time since he last had any. She enjoyed it as she was bent over the couch and his thick, if not long, shaft penetrated her time and again. He made limited use of an anal toy, with some ATM to follow, before he screwed her willing ass (she claimed to be coming at one point) very nicely. He stuck the hose on her head with an opening for the mouth, jerking off a load into her mouth (though she didn't swallow). Still, by this point in the movie, I felt sure Robby had another winner since all of the scenes were great.

Scene Seven: Alektra Blue, a lean brunette with incredible eyes and a thin all natural figure, was up in the last full scene after some heated play in a flamboyant skirt and arm warmers. I prefer gals a bit thicker but I wouldn't kick her out of bed unless she wanted to do it on the floor, roof, or someplace else. The extensive tease led to her sitting down on Chris Charming's lap, then pulling down his pants to get a gander at his one eyed wonder worm for sucking. Her skill with a meat pipe is not quite legendary but is still in the top percentiles from my experience. The active blowjob gave way to anal, where she tried to be as active as possible, given the size of his girth and the tiny rosebud she calls her asshole. As she warmed up, she took him increasingly deeper, doing some ATM (without a wipe folks) for those who enjoy it. The rhythm was best when she was on top but he seemed to be okay this time as he spanked and tapped that ass in several other positions. It ended when he jerked out his large load into her mouth for swallowing down and proved to be another scene with solid replay value.

Scene 4.1: Nautica Thorne, in her second lengthier tease session, was bound with her glasses on and an inflatable ball gag in her mouth. I would've liked a longer, fuller tease session but I couldn't deny her appeal.

Summary: Control 2 proved to be another hot offering in the series, proving there'd be no sophomore slump with Robby D. at the helm. The women were great, the settings used to full advantage to showcase them as nicely as possible, and the chemistry, passion and other aspects of the scenes were undeniably better than you're likely to find in the gonzo factory outlets that so many of us, myself included, have favored so much in recent years. While I tend to like stronger and flatter lighting, the manner in which the lighting was used subtly in the scenes caught the eye time and again, especially since it made the ladies look even more appealing than ever. The cutting edge themes of power control were explored with more depth than one might expect from a company like Digital Playground, never relying on the circus act sex as a means to artificially prop up a scene as you'll find with numerous others in the field, though this one should appeal to folks from all walks of like (raincoaters, couples-especially for Sara and Jenaveve's scenes, and all those in between). I'm going to rate it as Highly Recommended, though there were times when a handful of minor changes and better extras could've easily swayed that into the ultimate category. In short, Control 2 managed to address the critics who've long held that Robby D. and Digital Playground cater to a niche audience, proving that sexual tension and energy needn't rely on gimmicks when you have the right guy, the right company, and the right cast all working in unison. I hope the next volume is as good as the first two were, since the writing's on the wall for those all important awards so many offer at the end of the year.

----You can email me with questions at Houstondon @ hotmail.com if you have any constructive criticism of the review too. :) Also you can follow me on twitter @HoustonDon